Offering a riveting closeup of a specialized group of U.S. Army personnel in World War II, Sons and Soldiers brings to life the stories of German Jews who escaped the Nazi regime in the 1930s and subsequently made significant contributions to the Allied victory. Called the "Camp Ritchie Boys" from the camp where they were trained as interrogators, they were deployed in Europe with major combat units from D-Day on. Featuring six of the men, historian Bruce Henderson chronicles the Ritchie Boys' service. World War II buffs and readers interested in Jewish history shouldn't miss this inspiring account.

Beginning in November 2012, an arson spree terrorized a rural county in Virginia for six months. In American Fire, journalist Monica Hesse traces the fiery trail of Charlie Smith and Tonya Bundick, who torched unoccupied buildings near where they lived in economically depressed but tightly knit Accomack County. Like Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, the deadly pair were romantically entwined; their motives remained elusive until after their capture. True crime aficionados and those interested in the economic fates of rural communities will want to pick up this compelling story.

Winner of Columbia University's 2015 Bancroft prize and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Empire of Cotton portrays in riveting detail how cotton production and manufacture transformed global economics. This extensively researched, vividly described history depicts the contrast between pre-industrial and industrial labor and reveals the relationships over millennia between warfare, slavery, and cotton. Harvard University historian Sven Beckert's "highly detailed, provocative" (Booklist) work offers a must-read portrayal of the development of capitalism.

In a narrative highlighted with vivid portraits of Vietnamese and French leaders, Embers of War chronicles the last four decades of French dominion in Indochina, leading up to the U.S. military's involvement in Vietnam. Focusing on the intricate diplomatic and political situation in Southeast Asia, acclaimed historian Fredrik Logevall exposes French colonial administrators' missteps and traces the Western powers' failure to grasp Vietnamese nationalists' desire for independence and self-rule. Though this 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning history ends where the U.S. war in Vietnam begins, Logevall's analysis explains why American intervention there was doomed before it started.

While many accounts of Nazi concentration camps have focused on particular prisons or their devastating human consequences, historian Nicolaus Wachsmann is the first to analyze the entire system of labor camps and extermination centers. This gripping, revelatory study, which won multiple awards for history writing, draws on massive collections of documents, some of which have only become available over the past 25 years. KL doesn't just detail Nazi Germany's methodology of slave labor and genocide: it reveals how it was integral to the Third Reich's economic and political system. For additional insight into the politics behind the concentration camps, try Timothy Snyder's Black Earth.

Did you know that the U.S. state of Nevada was almost named "Humboldt," after the Enlightenment-era German explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt? During his lifetime, Humboldt was the "most famous man in the world after Napoleon," but is hardly remembered today. This multiple award-winning book restores Humboldt to his rightful place in history, describing his life as well as his many contributions to science. For example, Humboldt came up with the concept of climate zones, discovered the magnetic equator, and redefined our concept of nature itself -- as a web of life connecting every organism on Earth.

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